Paving machines are used to apply, spread and compact paving a “mat” of material relatively evenly over a desired surface. These machines are regularly used in the construction of roads, parking lots and other areas where a smooth durable surface is required for cars, trucks and other vehicles to travel. An asphalt paving machine generally includes a hopper for receiving asphalt material from a truck and a conveyor system for transferring the asphalt rearwardly from the hopper for discharge onto a roadbed. Screw augers may be used to spread the asphalt transversely across the roadbed in front of a screed plate. The screed plate smoothes and somewhat compacts the asphalt material and ideally leaves a roadbed of uniform depth and smoothness.
In order to help achieve the desired uniform depth and smoothness as well as to accommodate different job site conditions and different desired roadbed configurations, the screed assembly can include a variety of adjustments. These adjustments can be used to vary, for example, the width and thickness of the mat as well as the degree of any crown. However, these adjustments can make setting up a screed assembly at the start of a new operation a time consuming and labor intensive process, leading to inefficiencies. Moreover, the set-up of the screed assembly can be relatively complicated, which can lead to errors in the set-up. These errors can result in defects in the mat such as inconsistencies or discontinuities in the compression of the mat and in the thickness, texture, density and smoothness of the mat.